What makes my timpani sticks special?

The handles are made from selected bamboo, which is carefully matched for weight and diameter, making sure that the position of the knot in both sticks is identical for a perfect balance. The canes then go through a great number of straightening, cleaning and polishing processes. A final process applied to the Professional Timpani Sticks gives a finish which is highly polished, but won't soften or become slippery during stage performances.

The heads are covered in timpani felt which is custom made to my specifications. Cores range from a small wheel shaped core to a large ball shape. The use of timpani felt means that I can vary the weight and size of the stick, giving an unrivalled palette of tone colours, ranging from crisp and staccato to a rich, warm tone.

If you have specific requirements as to diameter or length of cane these can be accommodated with no extra charge.

For models 1-16 in the Professional Range a free renovation/refelting service is available for the first refelt. Practically a new pair of sticks for free.

I can renovate timpani sticks from other manufactures, adding a new felt covering to the head. Typical price for this service is around £15 per pair.

The timpani sticks in the Student Range have a finish equal to that given to Professional Sticks made by other timpani stick manufacturers, at a price that you would expect to pay for commercial wood handle timpani sticks.

Great product, great service.

If you are buying a great product, you expect great service - this is what I offer. Advice is always available in the choice of sticks, and if you find you've chosen the wrong stick, alterations can be made for minimal cost – I want to make sure you have what's right for you.

All sticks and mallets are made to order, which means you don't have to pay the cost of high stock levels and storage. The philosophy behind the design and manufacture of my sticks is "build up to a quality, not down to a price".

The cane I use for my timpani sticks is of the finest quality; it is straightened, matched for weight and diameter, and given a superb gloss [but not slippery] finish that makes my timpani sticks as good to look at as they are to listen to. As you would expect in top quality timpani sticks, all knots are matched up to ensure great balance. The standard diameter for my timpani stick canes is 8 – 11 mm, and canes are selected to go with head size and weight, but feel free to say if you want a specific thickness.

The heads have a wooden core as standard, with the smaller size heads having a rounded disc rather than a complete ball centre. This enables the stick to have the right amount of contact area without being too heavy. If you need lighter sticks, e.g. playing on calfskin, cork cores can be specified at no extra cost.

The different tonal qualities of the sticks are achieved by layering pure lamb's wool felt which is made to our specifications. Using more than one layer, with the layers having differing sizes and thickness, means that there is a great deal of control over the sound made by the stick. The bamboo cane handles are clearly marked, to make the correct selection during a concert or rehearsal as easy as possible.

The range of core sizes is there to ensure the widest range of tone colours in our timpani sticks; the smaller cores allow for clarity without damping the sound in the way a completely spherical core would. It is a fallacy that a ball shaped core is perfect for all timpani sticks. Some players believe that a ball shaped core means a stroke played from an incorrect angle will still sound good – not so!

Professional Range

Professional models P1 – P16 and Student models T2 – T7 are available with cork cores at no extra cost. Many players prefer to use lighter cork centred timpani sticks when playing hand tuned or fibreglass timpani, as well as when using calfskin timpani heads.

If you prefer not to use the free refelting service my timpani sticks are available from my distributors,

Bell Percussion - www.bellperc.com, and other major percussion retailers. If you’ve visited this site previously you’ll notice the absence of Marimba and Bass Drum beaters.

For this website I’ve concentrated on my core product of timpani sticks, but the other mallets are still available to order. Marimba mallets are £15 per pair, Bass Drum beaters £25 per pair.

The Mozart Range

Designed in collaboration with eminent timpanist Scott Bywater, these sticks feature very small wheel cores with one layer of felt. B1 is the smallest, B2 and B3 are larger, but B3 is still smaller than P1.

Canes are carefully selected to complement the lightness of the heads. These sticks are the ideal choice for repertoire such as Mendelssohn’s "Midsummer Night’s Dream" overture, Beethoven Symphony No1, and all the other chamber and symphonic works where you want to play with a lot of energy without having to compromise for fear of being overbearing, which has always been a problem with the much heavier sticks offered by some other makers.

As with the rest of the professional range, cork centres are available to order.